Biden transition team names White House tech officials

President-elect Joe Biden‘s transition team announced two technology officials to serve in the incoming administration, both of whom served in the Obama White House.

David Recordon will be the director of technology in the White House’s Office of Management and Administration, and Austin Lin will serve as his deputy. Recordon and Lin both come from roles at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative before taking technology roles on the Biden transition team late last year. They also have in common stints working at Facebook.

The Office of Management and Administration is typically an internal, behind-the-scenes White House office that oversees operations, and the tech functions within it tend to serve the needs of the Executive Office of the President. But it appears the incoming Biden administration may expand Recordon and Lin’s roles to be more governmentwide than in previous administrations.

“The technology leaders will play an important role in restoring faith across the federal government by encouraging collaboration to further secure American cyber interests,” says a release from the Biden-Harris transition.

During the Obama administration, Recordon worked with the U.S. Digital Service before serving as the first director of White House information technology. In the administration, he worked on IT modernization and cybersecurity issues, according to the release. He has served as the deputy chief technology officer for the Biden-Harris transition team.

Celebrating his new role on LinkedIn, Recordon wrote: “The pandemic and ongoing cyber security attacks present new challenges for the entire Executive Office of the President, but ones I know that these teams can conquer in a safe and secure manner together.”

Lin was deputy director of information technology and associate director for operations in the Obama White House.

“In addition to working with organizations and communities, these accomplished public servants sit at the forefront of collaboration across the administration,” Biden said in a statement. “They will lead initiatives ranging from developing policies and processes, to ensuring our cybersecurity needs are met with a whole of government response.”